Gibson Estate

40 Pa. D. & C.2d 629, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Allegheny County
DecidedApril 19, 1966
Docketnos. 1071-A and 1071-C of 1940
StatusPublished

This text of 40 Pa. D. & C.2d 629 (Gibson Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Allegheny County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gibson Estate, 40 Pa. D. & C.2d 629, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1966).

Opinion

Adjudication

Boyle, P. J.,

The question in the case at bar is whether there is an unlawful accumulation of income in the trusts created under paragraphs 8 and 9 of the will of Addison H. Gibson, deceased. If the accumulation is lawful, the unexpended income in each trust goes to the estate of the deceased life tenant. If the accumulation is unlawful, it goes to the trustees of the residuary estate, designated as the Addison H. Gibson Foundation, for charitable purposes.

The Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been given due notice of this audit of the final accounts of the trustee and the questions involved.

The court must determine the manner of distribution of accumulations of income in the amount of $4,-784.93 under the trust created for Annie A. McChesney and Martha G. McChesney under paragraph 8 of decedent’s will. The accumulation occurred during the life of Martha G. McChesney, the surviving life tenant.

A similar question involves $2,316.74 of income accumulated under the trust created for the benefit of Marie J. Gibson under paragraph 9 of the will of decedent.

The trustees of the foundation contend that the directions of the will violate the statute against accumulations, which is the Act of April 18, 1853, P. L. 503, and that the court should order the accumulated income distributed to them.

Decedent died April 18, 1936, and the provisions of his will are subject to the Act of April 18, 1853, P. L. 503.

[631]*631Paragraph 8 of the will provides:

“I authorize and direct my executors to set aside the sum of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), which they shall administer as trustees and pay the net income thereof in quarterly payments, if convenient to do so, to my said sister, Annie A. McChesney, as long as she shall live. After the death of my said sister, I direct my trustees to pay to my niece, Martha G. Mc-Chesney, as long as she shall live, the whole or such part of the income from said trust fund as shall, in the sole judgment of my trustees, be necessary to supplement other income of my said niece and enable her to live in the. manner to which she was accustomed prior to my death. Upon the death of both of said beneficiaries, that is, Annie A. McChesney and Martha G. McChesney, I direct that said trust shall cease with respect to said fund and the corpus of said fund shall be added equally to the trusts herein provided in Paragraph 14 hereof for my residuary estate”.

Paragraph 9 of the will provides:

“I direct my executors to set aside the sum of Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000) as a trust fund and administer the same as trustees, and out of the income thereof to pay the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month to my niece, Marie J. Gibson, as long as she shall live. Upon the death of said niece, I direct that said trust shall cease with respect to said fund and the corpus of said fund shall be added equally to the trusts herein provided in Paragraph 14 hereof for my residuary estate”.

Testator disposes of unexpended income as follows, in paragraph 12 of his will:

“I . . . authorize and direct my trustees, in their sole discretion, to use any unexpended income, or the principal if required, of the trusts above created in Paragraphs 8 to 10 inclusive, to take care of any emergency, accident, illness or death of any of the bene[632]*632ficiaries named in said paragraphs, if other funds for the expenses of such emergency or illness are not otherwise available to such beneficiaries”.

' Paragraphs 8 and 9 of the will do not dispose specifically of income not expended during the term of the trust. Only corpus is added to the trusts under paragraph 14.

The Act of April 18,1853, P. L. 503, sec. 9, provides:

; “[N]o person . . . shall, after the passing of this hct, by any. . . will. . . dispose of any real or personal property, so and in such manner that the rents, issues, interest, or profits thereof, shall be wholly or partially accumulated for any longer term than the life ... of any such . . .' testator, and the term of twenty-one ■years from the death of any such . . . testator, that is to say, only after such decease during the minority or respective minorities, ... of any person or persons, who, under the uses or trusts of the deed, will, or other assurance directing such accumulation, would, for the time being, if of full age, be entitled unto the . . . [income] . . . so. directed to accumulate . . . .”

■ ..In' order to find a violation of the Act of 1853, it must be found that testator expressly or impliedly directed an. accumulation of income and its capitalization in such .a manner as not to fall within an exception to the statute. '

" Such unlawful intent is not present when testator’s provision to accumulate income is in anticipation of a possible future decrease in income earned or to provide for emergencies such as sickness: Spring’s Estate, 216 Pa. 529, 534-35; Hibbs Estate, 143 Pa. 217, 219, 224-225.

Such a provision for a contingent fund is set forth in-paragraph 12 of the instant will.

. _•' Nor is there such unlawful intent where, in fact, all the income is given the life tenant, even though the trustee-may or. may not have discretion to determine [633]*633the amount to be paid the income beneficiary and where there is no gift over of unexpended income: McManus Estate, 361 Pa. 122, 123-25; Sterrett’s Estate, 300 Pa. 116, 120-21; Everhart’s Estate, 296 Pa. 94, 97-99.

The crux of the question is whether or not the life tenant was given all income with the discretion in the trustee merely to decide how much will be expended at a given time.

Martha G. McChesney was given the whole or such part of income of the trust as the trustee determines is necessary to supplement other income payable to her. It is clear that Martha G. McChesney was given “all income” by the use of the words, “whole ... of the income”, but the payment of this “whole” might be postponed until a pressing need arose. No attempt was made to direct a capitalization of excess income; nor was there any gift over of accumulated income, both of which further indicate a gift of all the income of her trust to Martha G. McChesney.

Another indication that Martha G. McChesney’s gift was of all the income of the trust established for her is the fact that all the income or even principal could be used for an emergency, such as accident, illness, or death. There is a strong intent from this that income was vested in her because it might be used by her estate and, if not sufficient, principal might be invaded.

The same may be found as to the gift of Marie J. Gibson, which is very similar except that it is in the form of an annuity which equals about what the principal of the trust for Marie J. Gibson would earn during the life of the trust. The fact that excess income over the amount necessary to pay the annuity might be retained does not show an intent to provide for an accumulation in violation of the statute, because: (1) there is a provision for payment of income almost equal to the maximum amount of income reasonable to be produced by the trust, (2) a provision for the use of prin[634]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Everhart's Estate
145 A. 702 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1929)
Sterrett's Estate
150 A. 159 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1930)
McManus Estate
63 A.2d 75 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1948)
Estate of Hibbs
22 A. 882 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1891)
Spring's Estate
66 A. 110 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1907)
McKeown Trust
119 A.2d 76 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1956)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
40 Pa. D. & C.2d 629, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibson-estate-paorphctallegh-1966.